In a move sparking intense debate and raising fundamental questions about governance and crisis response, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has formally turned to divine intervention, mandating staff prayer sessions to combat the nation’s escalating food insecurity.
A leaked internal circular, dated June 11, 2025, and signed by Human Resources Management Director Adedayo Modupe, summons all ministry personnel to a “three-day fasting and prayer program.” The sessions, themed “Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development,” are scheduled for consecutive Mondays starting June 16th, to be held during lunch hours in the Ministry’s Abuja headquarters conference hall.
The memo explicitly frames the action as necessary due to the Ministry’s perceived limitations: “recognising that it may be unable to fulfill its mandate alone.” This stark admission, emanating from the very agency tasked with ensuring Nigerians have enough to eat, casts a glaring light on the severity of the crisis and the government’s apparent struggle to manage it through conventional policy and agricultural strategy.
The Ministry’s own website underscores the dissonance. Established in 1966 (originally as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the FMAFS states its core mission is “to ensure food security and promote agricultural sustainability in Nigeria.” It emphasizes a practical focus: “empowering farmers, facilitating market access, and promoting sustainable practices to cultivate a resilient and prosperous agricultural sector.”
This technocratic mandate stands in sharp relief against the current recourse to organized prayer as a primary tool. The United Nations World Food Programme defines food security as the condition where “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.” Nigeria is currently far from meeting this benchmark, with soaring food prices, widespread hunger, and reports of acute malnutrition in vulnerable regions.
The viral circulation of the memo has ignited a firestorm of reactions: Critics question whether this signals a retreat from evidence-based policymaking and resource deployment. Should a critical ministry’s efforts be channeled into prayer sessions, or into bolstering extension services, input access, supply chain logistics, or climate adaptation technologies?
Nigeria’s constitution declares the state’s secularity. Mandating religious observances for civil servants raises legal and ethical concerns about the separation of state functions and religious practice. The prayer initiative conspicuously avoids addressing the complex, often politically sensitive, root causes of Nigeria’s food crisis: rampant insecurity preventing farming in key regions, climate change impacts disrupting harvests, infrastructure deficits, potential policy missteps, and economic instability affecting input costs and market access.
While the Ministry has offered no further official comment, voices outside government express deep concern. “Prayer is a personal solace, not a national agricultural policy,” stated Dr. Chidi Nwafor, an Abuja-based agricultural economist. “This circular, sadly, reads like an admission of defeat on the practical front. Nigerians need seeds in the ground, safe fields to farm, and efficient markets – not just prayers from their agriculture ministry. It deflects from the urgent need for concrete action and accountability.”
As Nigeria grapples with one of its most severe food security challenges in decades, the FMAFS’s decision to prioritize collective prayer has become a potent symbol of the government’s struggle. It underscores the profound gap between the scale of the crisis and the perceived efficacy of state-led solutions. While the Ministry seeks divine help, millions of Nigerians await practical, effective actions to put food on their tables.
